


four hundred lux

by rrosewhip



Series: in this moment now capture it, remember it [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, sort of...it's definitely there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14041185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rrosewhip/pseuds/rrosewhip
Summary: “Your hair always looks like it has beams of sunlight intertwined in it.”Ed snorted. “That’s fuckin’ fantastic, except the only thing intertwined in it is blood and dirt. But thanks.”





	four hundred lux

**Author's Note:**

> i am back with another fic for the second time today though this one might be more up your ally than the second most recent one i posted! it's un-beta'd bc it's actually getting quite late bc for whatever reason i can only write at times that are really inconvenient during the week sadfjofdklf...anyway!!!i hope you enjoy this because i've been meaning to write something that had to do with 400 lux, both the song by Lorde and the actual thing, and so here we are!

“Your hair always looks like it has beams of sunlight intertwined in it.” 

Ed snorted. “That’s fuckin’ fantastic, except the only thing intertwined in it is blood and dirt. But thanks.” He glanced over his shoulder at Ling and then looked back ahead of him. It was too dark to really see anything but looking at Ling made him feel nervous for whatever reason.

Ling laughed lightly and sat down next to him. The only light around them came from the slowly dying campfire and the very few stars that were visible. The clouds blocked out most of the light and left the rest of the area drenched in darkness. 

It's been a few months since Ed started to follow Ling, or Greed rather, and it’s going just about as well as he’d expected. It wasn’t bad, things could be better but they could be worse too, Greed was a lot more tolerable once you hang around him long enough, and it wasn’t so much Ed being one of Greed’s subordinates versus existing equally. He wouldn’t ever say it loud though so he kept the thought to himself. It was nice to have him around, Ling was slowly getting better at switching places with Greed in terms of bodily control so he showed up more often and Ed didn’t feel as lonely as he sometimes did. Of course that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love Gorilla and Lion, it’s just a lot more comforting to have someone of your own age around. He was used to having Al around so being without him and surrounded by adults was weird. Something he should be used to by now, but it was still weird.

He missed Al. He can’t remember ever being away from him for this long and he can only hope that he’s doing alright. Al can definitely handle himself but that doesn’t stop Ed from wondering what he’s doing whenever he was the time to do so. With the Promised Day beginning to rear it’s ugly head around the corner, the worry that he tries to ignore only makes itself more at home in his chest.

With a heavy sigh he lays down on his back and stares up at the seemingly empty sky. He briefly wonders about life beyond the stars but is pulled from his thoughts by Ling laying down next to him.

Ed’s been having trouble sleeping, so every few nights he finds himself awake at only god knows what hour in the night/early morning with his mind quietly racing over whichever memory decided to haunt him. It was usually the same, it’d been the same for a few years, but sometimes they were different and when they were it always made them harder to push to the back of his mind. So instead of replaying them over and over in his tent, he sits outside and stares out at the stars to kill time. As of late though, Ling has joined him. He doesn’t really mind, not that he’d actually admit that out loud or even to himself, but Ling could be nice company. Not better than his brother but still nice.

There was a lot to not do in the middle of the forest, as far away from civilization as they can get without dying. Sometimes if it was bright enough he’d carelessly walk some yards away from camp just so he wasn’t sitting around doing nothing. Tonight would have been the same had there been some light.

“Why are you starin’ at me?” Ed mumbles and turns his head to look at Ling, who had in fact been staring at him and was doing a poor job of hiding it. Ed doesn’t think he was even trying.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He grins and it only results in a roll of the eyes from Ed. “You’re really pretty.” He notes quietly and Ed can feel his face flare. He hopes in the cover of the dark Ling can’t tell.

“Shut the fuck up.” He grumbles, turning his head away. “You can’t even see me anyway, ‘s too dark.”

Ling snorted and shot up. “As if that could stop me from admiring your perpetual beauty!” Ed’s face gets even warmer and he scowls at Ling, sitting up himself.

“Stop talkin’! You’re gonna make one of the veins in my head explode.” Ed whisper-shouted and if anything it only edged Ling on more.

“Oh, Ed...You’re lucky you’re cute. You’re red as a cherry and it’s absolutely adorable.” He wore a toothy grin and it irritated Ed to the ends of the earth that he, for a short second, thought it was cute. He internally swore at himself.

“I’m not red! This is my normal face!” He argued, giving Ling a dead panned stare for extra effect. He didn’t seem convinced at all and Ed glared at him.

“Oh, chills are running up my spine.” He’s baiting him, it’s so obvious that’s what he’s doing and it’s  _ annoying _ . What’s even more annoying that, despite knowing this, he keeps falling for it. Not this time, nope he’s decided he’s going to ignore him. He sticks his nose up in the air and looks away from him. He hears slight shuffling for a moment but then Ling is right next to him, his shoulder pressed against Ed’s.

Ed ignores him but mentally notes that he’s really warm. A lot warmer than he’d thought at least. And even with the fact that they’ve been outside for hours, Ling still smells nice. He smells like jasmine tea and the smell after it rains. How does someone smell that like? He doesn’t know, in fact, he doesn’t wanna think about it anymore so he pushes the thought away completely.

Still trying to get a rise out of him Ling throws an arm around his shoulders and Ed resists the urge to say something with the word  _ asshole _ attached at the end. He powers on and keeps staring ahead of him. He can practically feel Ling boring holes into the side of his face with his eyes and he scrunches his nose. 

“Come  _ oonnnnn _ , Ed! Talk to me!” Ling whines, shaking him back and forth. Ed groans and throws his head back then looks at him.

“Stop shaking me first,” He complains and adds an ‘asshole’ for good measure. Ling complies and stops. Ed directs a short glare at him and then sighs. “You just love getting under my skin.” He mutters with a bitter look that held no real bite.

Ling grins and shrugs. “What can I say, it’s cozy.” Ed rolls his eyes and exhales. He was starting to get sleepy again. He blinked rapidly a few times and stifled a yawn that was trying to work its way out. 

They say in a relative silence for the next few moments. Ed ponders on things that are to come and he wonders if everything will go according to plan. With how most things go, probably not. In fact it’ll probably start out really shitty and then start to get better before getting shitty again and then finally ending alright. Things always went that way when you didn’t want them to.

Sleepiness was still pulling at him and his head, which he may or may not have not been against, lolled over onto Ling’s shoulder. His eyes felt heavy and his head felt heavy and everything felt  _ way _ too heavy for him to move. When was the last time he’d gotten a decent amount of sleep he wondered. It probably wasn’t any time recent and that was no doubt definitely a problem.

Ed couldn’t see and he was too tired to even make an attempt to realize but Ling was looking down at him softly and his cheeks were dusted a light pink. He was being looked at in a way that friend didn’t normally look at each like and if Ling had any self control whatsoever he’d stop. But as of right now, in their current situation sitting in the middle of the forest early enough in the morning that the sun was starting to rise, he didn’t care.

“You should sleep.” Ling’s voice came muffled from beside him and Ed only hummed in response. “Seriously, Ed. I don’t think you’ve slept okay at all this week. I’ll be right here when you wake up.” He promised quietly. Ed wearily looked at him from the corner of his eyes and yawned.

“Alright...just for a little whi—” He broke off in a yawn. “—le. Wake me up in…” He trails off for a second, thinking about something or almost falling asleep in the middle of his sentence, he didn’t know he just knew he was really tired. “...fifteen minutes. Or twenty. Okay?” Another yawn.

“Mhm, twenty minutes. I promise.” 

Ed nods and shuts his eyes just as the sun starts to peek over the horizon.

“Ah...did you know sunrises are about four hundred lux?” Ling muses softly and glances down at Ed’s sleeping figure. “You remind me of that fact,” he pauses and smiles fondly. “Your eyes hold about the same amount of illuminance.”

Ed wouldn’t let him know, but he heard every word.

**Author's Note:**

>  **400 Lux** ( **lux** _the SI unit of illuminance_ )  
> 1\. sunrise or sunset on a clear day (ambient illumination)
> 
>  
> 
> i hope you enjoyed!! kudos and comments are appreciated as well as feedback in general! you can find me at tumblr here:
> 
> tumblr: radsukeuchiha
> 
> thanks again!!


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